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solids
Jan 9, 2008 10:40:47 GMT -5
Post by deeter54 on Jan 9, 2008 10:40:47 GMT -5
I need some advice. I would like to hear your stories on when you started solids with your little ones and what did you give them. Jade is in her fifth month and I am curious as to when to start. I know doctors say sixth months but I want some real life scenarios to base my decision on.
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solids
Jan 9, 2008 10:47:23 GMT -5
Post by karime on Jan 9, 2008 10:47:23 GMT -5
We started Levi on rice cereal at 5 months. After about a week, we started giving him stage 1 veggies, one at a time-waiting about a week between each new thing. He's had green beans, carrots, peas, and sweet potatoes. He's 6 months old today. I'm not real sure about how to really transition him to solid food, but right now we're just slowly introducing him to foods-giving him some every evening
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solids
Jan 9, 2008 10:51:01 GMT -5
Post by deeter54 on Jan 9, 2008 10:51:01 GMT -5
so he didn't have any stomach upset or anything like that? I am thinking of starting something at the end of this month. She will be five months then. So veggies can come soon after cereal with no ill effects?
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solids
Jan 9, 2008 11:01:49 GMT -5
Post by pamcrt on Jan 9, 2008 11:01:49 GMT -5
uhhh, my little piggy has been eating since 4 months, seriously. The bottle just didn't cut it. We did start with cereal, but had to switch to oatmeal because rice upset her tummy. I started her on stage 1 foods at about 5 months and just went from there and went with her cues. They say stay with one food for a minimum of 3 days to see if there will be a reaction or not, start with veggies so they don't get used to the sweet stuff first. Abby didn't stay on stage 1's very long though because she wanted consistency in her life!! That is why she didn't stay on stage 2's very long either and completely skipped the 3's and went straight to "big people" food. She will be 9 months on the 20th and eats anything we do. Like last night, she ate a bowl of chicken & dumplings. And a big bowl at that. I just made the bites small enough for her and she gummed them to death and then swallowed it. She does have 2 teeth and I have seen her keep the food up front and "chew" it (which is really funny), but mostly she just gets it mushy enough to swallow. Now, I don't go giving her steak or anything, it is usually stuff that is easy for her to get down, but she eats anything we do. I know this may not be what you are looking for, but Abby was a rare one. She didn't like the fact that we were eating the good food while she got stuck eating the bland baby food. I even tried "spicing" it up to make it more enticing but she wouldn't go for it, so now I have a cabinet full of baby food she won't eat.
So my suggestion is to still start off with the stage 1's to see if there might be any food allergies, minimum 3 days, veggies first, then sweets and then go from there. Go with Jade's cues on what you think she will eat. Have you tried mashed potatoes? Those are usually a babies favorites. Abby loves them.
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solids
Jan 9, 2008 11:04:02 GMT -5
Post by karime on Jan 9, 2008 11:04:02 GMT -5
Levi hasn't had any problems so far. He seems to have a slightly sensitive stomach, so we've been waiting about a week before introducing him to each new food. We just gave him a little bit of rice cereal for his first feeding (maybe 2 t a b l e s p o o n s, fairly runny?). Then we gave him that again for several days, and I made the portion size a bit bigger. Just be forwarned if Jade has any issues with constipation...the rice cereal made Levi constipated (I think bc he was on soy formula too) so we are now only giving him a little bit again. After about a week on rice cereal, we gave him a little serving of carrots along side of the rice cereal. Then almost a week later, we gave him a little serving of green beans and a little serving of rice cereal, ect ect. I'm not sure when to start giving him less formula and more food, but for right now this seems to be working.
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solids
Jan 9, 2008 11:06:38 GMT -5
Post by pamcrt on Jan 9, 2008 11:06:38 GMT -5
Kari, try using the oatmeal if the rice is still making Levi constipated. Abby had horrible issues with constipation and that helped get her regular.
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solids
Jan 9, 2008 11:34:19 GMT -5
Post by deeter54 on Jan 9, 2008 11:34:19 GMT -5
Thanks for your input girls. I am going to take your advice and start her early. I really have no idea. This is all new to me. I have never have had experience with babies ever! I work with children but four years old and up. You guys have really been helpful. Pam I will start with potatoes as a vegetable. Mashed sweet potatoes. Yes she does get constipated. I will try and start with oatmeal for babies. This is what I wanted to hear. Jade seems bored with just breast milk and formula these days.
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solids
Jan 9, 2008 13:06:19 GMT -5
Post by pamcrt on Jan 9, 2008 13:06:19 GMT -5
Yah, Abby got bored with milk REALLY fast. She wanted something she could do something with. So like I said, I went with her cues and started her on the foods and went from there. Now she eats like a horse. There really isn't anything she won't eat, but with her lactose intolerance I do try to watch what she eats with milk in it so she doesn't get a tummy ache and get diarrhea. So she eats a lot of veggies, carrots, green beans, broccoli, stuff like that. And she has gotten to where she likes spaghetti. Silly girl...
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solids
Jan 9, 2008 13:32:32 GMT -5
Post by llamajenn on Jan 9, 2008 13:32:32 GMT -5
I tried rice cereal for David just before 4 months because he was always so hungry (I breastfeed but have had to supplement with formula since about 2 months of age). He's also a very big boy, so I thought maybe he was ready. But it didn't seem to agree with him. He seemed to be spitting up more and having trouble digesting, so I held off for a couple more weeks. We tried again around 4.5 months, and it went better. I went very gradually though -- just a couple s p o o n f u l s every other day at first. Then I gave him some oatmeal and alternated between the 2. But it wasn't until I added a little applesauce to the mix (5.5 months, I think) that he really seemed to enjoy eating. Eventually he realized that solids made him full, too. Because for a while he would want a bottle or to nurse if he was hungry -- none of this food on a s p o o n stuff. He is 6.5 months now and I've been introducing a new food every few days for the past couple weeks. He eats some of the stage 1 fruits (applesauce & bananas mostly) and a few veggies too (carrot, squash, sweet potato). Last night he got chicken for the first time (stage 2 food). That was fun. At his doctor's visit this week, she basically gave us the go-ahead to give him almost anything (no nuts, eggs, dairy or shellfish though). She also said that stage 1/stage2 and those type of classifications are only used by the baby food companies and don't mean a whole lot. Besides, with David, he didn't like his cereal or food thin or runny; he liked it pretty thick. Right now I give him about 1/2 a jar of either fruit or veggies twice a day, mixed with a couple tea s p o o n f u l s of oatmeal or rice and also mixed with some breastmilk or formula to thin out the cereal. I know that I can give him more, but that seems to be about all he wants. He still nurses frequently (about every 3.5 hours during the day) and gets formula if I'm having a low milk day (I swear, my milk supply changes daily!), so I guess he's getting enough to eat...considering that he's the height and weight of a 12-month old at 6.5 months. One last thing -- the general advice from his doc was that at 4 months it's ok to start rice cereal, then add other grains if that's well-tolerated (i.e. oats or barley). She recommended nothing else until 6 months (although she said applesauce or applejuice could be okay if there's no history of food allergies in the family). At 6 months, basically anything goes, with the exception of the foods I mentioned earlier. Like Pam said, it's best to wait 3-4 days after introducing a new food to make sure there's no allergic reaction. And at 6 months, she recommended just blending up whatever we're having for dinner and giving it to him, as long as it's not overly spicy or greasy and as long as the foods have been introduced one-by-one. I didn't expect that! It does make things easier though. As far as constipation, David only had that problem when I was supplementing with soy formula. None of the foods we've tried seemed to make him constipated. I thought squash made him go a little MORE, but it may have been random. Or not. Who knows. I don't remember who, but someone on here (Tamara or Pam?) mentioned giving a little prune juice for constipation. Anyway, sorry this was so long! Hope it helped. Jenn
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solids
Jan 9, 2008 14:23:46 GMT -5
Post by llamajenn on Jan 9, 2008 14:23:46 GMT -5
Pam, Do you still give Abby formula? If so, how much does she drink per day? I'm curious about when the amount of formula or breastmilk they need decreases. Right now David's supposed to still get 24-30 oz/day, I think. Thanks, Jenn
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solids
Jan 9, 2008 18:35:26 GMT -5
Post by mel5mel on Jan 9, 2008 18:35:26 GMT -5
Payton, has been on oatmeal since he was about 4 mos old.... against the advice of our dr. but he loves it, we didnt start on rice bc it had soy in it and i have a feeling he is intollerant of soy protiens and milk protiens still (we tried to get off the sauce and it didnt work.... so were still on nutramigen) i have waited to serve him veggies and fruit bc apparently kids who are intollerant often have trouble digesting veggies so we will wait until the end of the month... my shelves are full of wonderful mushy foods just waiting for a mouth to eat them....
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solids
Jan 9, 2008 19:16:16 GMT -5
Post by pamcrt on Jan 9, 2008 19:16:16 GMT -5
Jenn, Yes I do still give Abby formula. She usually gets a bottle in the morning (between 5-7 oz, just depends) before or after breakfast, depends on her. She gets about 4 oz. after lunch or water cut with juice (again, depends on her and her "mood"), and one after dinner that she usually takes FOREVER to drink... basically she sips on it. She gets one good bottle (8 oz with her meds in it) before bed. Some days her bottle/formula intake really depends. She can sip on a bottle for a while and sometimes she will suck it down. I usually try to give her at least 2 water bottles a day just so she has the water intake. As far as the food goes though, the kid eats like a horse so I'm not sure if that's why she just doesn't want to drink a lot anymore or what (I am pretty sure that's it though). Hope that helps. Pam
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